Old Habits
by gouriel
Summary: Rating went up due to violence fighting? and Cid's language :D Takes place after the game. The world is recovering from ShinRa and Meteor when Cloud suddenly disappears after some people have decided they won't sit by and wait for their share of the pie.


**Prologue**

The night was dark, and almost completely concealing a person walking through the cold streets of Midgar. In this world, that has seen so much despair and evil, positive changes are not always accepted for what they are. But not all changes are for good, and those that are might draw attention away from changes which are not. But who can tell wrong from right? _I can_, this person thought, _my era will arrive_.

His destiny was waiting for him, as was his destination; he turned around the corner and walked to a tall, forsaken building. It had once been all white, but the sands of time and the tragedy that had befallen this city had turned it grey and black. In front of the building stood a lonely figure. A light shining from a nearby house, revealed little of his identity, yet a trail of cigarette smoke visibly arose from the man.

"You're late," the figure said on a cold tone.

"I miscalculated the time it would take me to get here," the first person replied.

The icy-voiced figure spoke again, sending a shiver down the other's spine. "That ain't the only thing you appear to have miscalculated."

"What do you mean?" he asked nevertheless, premonitions of the answer flooding his mind. Premonitions that were to be proven correct.

"I ain't for sale," the lone figure said, dropping his cigarette to the ground. He appeared annoyed at having to speak. He turned around and walked away, disappearing into the night, leaving the other man alone, but not without two words, floating back toward him as the figure faded into the black: "Not anymore."

"We'll meet again," the first person predicted. He pondered for a while on his next move. He had taken a large risk contacting this person, but from what he had heard from the man's former boss, the risk would be well worth it if he could successfully recruit this man. Although he'd heard no details whatsoever, it was clear that it was not just his healthy pack of brains that could be of much use. However, even without this person the man was sure he had everything to get the job done. Although one more of them would be nice. He smiled, joyful at the prospect of realising his plans. So long he had waited, but it would be worth it. That much was certain.

The sun shone high in the sky on the other side of the world. It shone on a rocky crimson landscape, and into a canyon. Two warriors walked through that canyon, accompanying a horde of children. One warrior, Cloud Strife, had accompanied them all the way; taking a zeppelin at Midgar and walking all the way from Nibelheim to Cosmo Canyon. The other one, the furry Nanaki, also known as Red XIII, escorted them on the last part of their journey.

It was he who had insisted on having Cloud walk the orphans from Nibelheim to Midgar, thinking an experience like this one was a good way to get their mind off the horrors they had to face several months ago, when a small drifting planet, attracted by an immense evil force, had devastated most of Midgar, unfortunately causing many many children to lose their parents.

Cosmo Canyon was by far the place with the most teachers, and the entire setting - living with a tribe, taking refuge in a gigantic canyon - sounded like quite an exciting adventure to a lot of kids. And so it became that as many orphans as possible from Midgar were gathered and "shipped" to Cosmo Canyon by nobody other than the war hero Cloud Strife. Once the children were educated, they'd probably move to different cities, where they would help rebuild the world and its economy.

The kids were tired from their journey, but they seemed proud of their achievement of reaching the canyon. They were amazed at the sight of the beauty of Cosmo Canyon, and even more amazed at the sight of the four-legged Nanaki, with his fiery fur and fierce exterior. One of the smaller children, a hyper-active kid with short, spiky hair named Shane, started bouncing until he almost fell off a plateau. Fortunately, he was saved by Nanaki, who managed to grab him by the collar with his mouth at the last moment. Immediately, Shane was a hero amongst the other kids, and after hearing for the hundredth time how Shane nearly bounced off the at least 8 meters high plateau and how he was saved by the fiery animal, Nanaki saw, much to his relief, that they were approaching the entrance of Cosmo Canyon.

Cloud had been in Cosmo Canyon numerous times now, but every time he walked trough it, it felt new somehow. The atmosphere, the colouring, the houses inside the larger rock plateaus, everything just felt special. He liked the place a lot, and it put him to rest a bit, which was something not a lot of places, things or people could do.

Perhaps it was a remainder of the war, perhaps it's something else, he wasn't sure, but he had been feeling restless ever since his descent into the Northern Crater. Always walking around, never relaxing. In Costa Del Sol, in his own villa or on the beach, he could relax nicely. Whenever one of his friends was around he would occasionally relax as well, especially around Tifa.

He didn't see Tifa nearly as much as he wanted, but he had other things to do, other people to take care of. Tifa was a tough girl; Cloud knew she'd take care of herself. He loved to be with her, but he simply had to do what he had to do. Whether how important educating new life, giving it hope, or taxiing it was, he missed her so much he felt incomplete whenever she wasn't by his side.

After they got home from the Northern Crater, and Meteor was dealt with, the two of them had settled in Midgar, reopening the Seventh Heaven, Tifa's bar. Midgar was a real mess, and they had their hands full restoring whatever could be restored by two people in a few months time. But together with survivors from Midgar, led by their friend Reeve, they managed to make a few sectors of the city inhabitable. What wasn't inhabitable would be torn down and rebuilt completely, but that would take a lot of time.

Cloud couldn't stand being in one place all the time. He had to roam around the world; to travel. He had been moving orphans around for three months now, and he was pretty positive there weren't a lot of orphans left in Midgar. Just before he left on this journey, he was told that the railway system was soon to be operational between the few sectors in use.

As he walked around the canyon, Cloud watched his friend Nanaki address the children. Another mission completed, he thought. He visited some stores to stash in some new supplies, and ate dinner with the orphans and Nanaki. The elders of the tribe would place them in a special house for a few nights, to familiarise with their new environment, and assure them they were safe here. After that they'd get their own tents and huts, though in groups of four. After the simple but healthy dinner (there were a lot of mouths to feed), Cloud bid the orphans farewell and told them he was going to get some more children like them from Midgar. They excitedly waved and yelled him goodbye as he departed the orphanage.

He met up with Nanaki at the Cosmo Candle, a bonfire in the middle of the canyon. The Candle had been burning as long as he knew. The flames were huge, visible far beyond the canyon, and served as a beacon to all who roamed around the canyons.

"Red," Cloud started. Even though he had known for a long time that Nanaki was his friend's real name, the blond man often found himself calling the creature Red, a name that was given to him by a scientist, and even was even tattooed on his skin. Nanaki didn't mind, he cared little for names or looks; he had always learned it was the soul behind them that counted. "I've heard some disturbing news. Some parties are rumoured to be looking to use this world's status to rise to power - parties who may be little different from the leaders of the recent past."

He was referring to the Shinra corporation, a corporation that found its origin in manufacturing and selling weapons and slowly started expanding to other businesses, such as civilian vehicles and space exploration. During a war between two countries they had actually made so much profit from finding a highly profitable energy-source, Mako, that they fought the war for one of the countries, and defeated the other, whilst assuming control of the entire continent, actually replacing the country. By the time some people realised this, they were already so dependant on Shinra that they could do nothing but accept it. Without any competition of any sort, Shinra were free to do as they pleased, and proceeded to control the entire population. It was this monopoly-based system that they were trying to avoid, by putting separate mayors in control of every different city, cooperating on a global level.

"I too have heard the rumours," Nanaki replied. "What worries me are the people who are now supposed to keep several towns safe… I don't know if we can trust the Turks and their Civilian Security Corps …"

"I'm not fully convinced of their intentions yet," Cloud agreed, "But I think, after the Meteor affair, they've come to realise we're all in this together, and can't rely on nobody but each other. Plus, they've done good work so far. It seems odd, but, I think…" Cloud paused, thinking for a moment. "I think there's more to them then they have showed in the past…"

"What does bother me is that exactly the same thing is happening," Red exclaimed. "They are keeping the peace in Junon, Midgar and Corel now. I just hope we can keep them under control."

"As do I," Cloud said, staring into the Candle. "As do I…"

Red thought about the topic for a while. He had ferociously fought the Turks on several occasions, and knew them as assassins and kidnappers without a conscience. Could it even be possible they have had a total u-turn? Or was this just a temporary act, to win the sympathy of the people or silently take control of the major cities? Red did not know, and neither did Cloud. Either way, there was nothing they could do about it at this moment. The citizens of the cities the Turks protected with their guards, Corel, Junon and Midgar, had put their trust in the Turks and their employees to protect them from thieves, muggers, drunks, monsters and the likes.

He looked up at his friend. Cloud was wearing a dark blue, sleeveless outfit, with his huge sword lying on the ground before him. His hair was blonde and spiky, and his mako-blue eyes stared into the distance. Cloud seemed to be at ease, and Red was getting sleepy. Cloud would leave tomorrow, as was usual when he dropped off orphans at the canyon.

Nanaki wondered if Cloud would go trough Nibelheim or Corel on his way to a zeppelin to Midgar. Red would have to come along with him someday, and visit Tifa and all the others. He hadn't been out of the canyon since the first orphans arrived three months ago.

Not that he minded: Nanaki loved the canyon, but travelling was a lot of fun too, especially with Cloud and the gang. He'd get another chance at that - he knew it. Cloud was more of a traveller himself, even if it meant being away from the girl he loved. He told Red that when this was over, they'd go along the route they walked together. From Midgar, to Fort Condor, to Junon, to Costa Del Sol, where he has his villa, past Corel and Gongaga to finish in the canyon again. Red was looking forward to it, and he was sure that Cloud was as well.

Back in Midgar, a young woman was looking out of the window, her large, brown pools of eyes scanning the outside world. The window was opened slightly, and her long, chocolate-brown hair waved in a gentle, chilly breeze. The dark scenery – the remains of Midgar – wasn't the most pleasant one. So many people had lost their lives in this city. But somehow, it made Tifa Lockheart feel right at ease.

Midgar had, after all, become her new hometown after the town where she had grown up, Nibelheim, had burned down completely. When she had first come here, she was taken in awe by the immense size of everything. Now nothing was left of the once so proud city, nothing but ruins. Not even half of the original population had survived Meteor's rampage. That was six months ago.

Most survivors moved out to towns like Corel, Nibelheim or Kalm, or stayed in Midgar trying to rebuild where possible. Nobody would use mako energy anymore, not in the least because not a single reactor in Midgar had survived meteor. There were still reactors operational in other parts of the world, but they were shut down by AVALANCHE members. Some of Cosmo Canyon's elders travelled the world, preaching the ways of the planet and explaining how mako energy would eventually drain the planet empty.

A Civilian Security Corps member walked by the window and greeted her. She didn't trust them very much as they were led by a group of former assassins, but she had little choice but to accept things as they were. After all, somebody had to preserve peace, and they were just the people for the job. You wouldn't mess with a Turk, even if Shinra didn't exist anymore. After the war, the four remaining Turks created the organisation to protect the villagers from thieves, plunderers and lost monsters.

At first there was sepsis, but soon they made a deal with the citizens, and it became a civilian guard force, led by the professionally trained Turks. A lot of ex-SOLDIER who had lost their jobs after the war signed up, unsure what else to do. They were far milder than the Shinra police had been, and also helped locate missing people and property. All in all, the world seemed pretty much at ease at the moment. But some people knew otherwise.


End file.
